Hair dryer holder

ABSTRACT

A hair dryer consists of a nozzle engaging frame that is composed of an upper nozzle engaging member and a lower nozzle engaging member, each of which is formed from steel wire bent into a horizontal generally planar hollow geometric shape, such as a hollow square. The nozzle engaging frame is supported by a substantially L-shaped arm member attached at one end to the vertical support of the nozzle engaging frame. The opposite end of the L-shaped arm member is attached to a spring clamp which, in turn, is clamped to the edge of a counter top or other edge to support the complete hair dryer holder assembly and hair dryer. The L-shaped arm may be formed with an included angle less than 90° so that when the hair dryer is inserted into the nozzle engaging frame, the nozzle of the hair dryer is directed slightly toward the countertop and away from the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to hand-held electric hair dryers, andmore particularly to apparatus and methods of storing hand-held electrichair dryers.

Hand-held electric hair dryers are a common household appliance used todry one's hair after showering, bathing, swimming, etc. Hand-heldelectric hair dryers typically include a plurality of electricresistance heating coils which are contained along with a fan motor andfan within a housing or barrel, which is usually tubular shaped. Thehand-held electric hair dryer typically has an air intake at one end ofthe barrel, a discharge nozzle at the other end of the barrel, and ahandle that extends generally perpendicular to the barrel.

When in use, it is often necessary for the hair dryer to be set down toenable the user to use both hands to brush and otherwise style the hair.Often, users will switch the hair dryer off and then turn it on again tocontinue drying the hair. The cycling of the hair dryer on and off,however, can lead to premature failure of the fan motor and or electricresistance heating coils of the hair dryer as well as the switch itself.Consequently, many users will simply leave the unit running on acountertop while brushing or styling the hair. Leaving the hair dryerrunning, however, may allow the hair dryer to “walk” across thecountertop due to the vibration of the fan motor. This may lead to thehair dryer inadvertently burning the user, melting or otherwise damagingsome object on the countertop or even dropping into the sink, whichcould cause an electrical hazard and/or destruction of the hair dryer.

Others have proposed various devices for holding a hair dryer. Forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,148 a wall-mounted base is provided forpermanent attachment to a wall. A swinging arm is attached to the baseat one end. At the opposite end of the swinging arm is a solidcylindrical sleeve which is capable of receiving the barrel of a hairdryer. A thumbscrew is provided to pinch the barrel of the hair dryer tokeep it in place as the swinging arm moves.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,861 also discloses a wall-mounted base that isprovided for permanent attachment to a wall. A flexible arm is attachedto the base at one end. At the opposite end of the flexible arm is asolid mounting ring which receives the handle of the hair dryer. Thehair dryer is secured to the mounting ring with straps that pass overthe top of the barrel of the hair dryer.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,229 discloses a wall-mounted base that supports aswivel-mount comprising an arm and a ball member. The ball member isclamped to the barrel of the hair dryer to allow for pitch and rollmovement of the hair dryer relative to the wall-mounted base.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,923 discloses a wall-mounted base that is providedfor permanent attachment to a wall. Lazy tongs are attached to thewall-mounted base at one end. At the opposite end of the lazy tongsthere is a U-shaped holder which is adapted to receive the handleportion of a hair dryer. Straps with hook-and-loop fasteners at the endssecure the hair dryer to the U-shaped holder.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,482 discloses a base that includes a suction cupmechanism for releasably attaching the base to a flat surface such as acountertop. A flexible gooseneck arm is attached to the base at one end.The opposite end of the gooseneck arm has a cradle adapted to supportthe lower surface of the hair dryer barrel and an elastic bungee cordlooped over the hair dryer barrel to secure the hair dryer to thecradle.

All of the foregoing patents are directed primarily to holding the hairdryer while it is switched on as opposed to storing the hair dryertemporarily while in use. U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,691, on the other hand,discloses a hair dryer holder that is capable of storing the hair dryertemporarily and with the nozzle pointed in a safe direction while inuse. The hair dryer holder disclosed in the '691 patent comprises ahorizontal shelf supported by a pair of jaws that grip the front edge ofa bathroom vanity drawer. The horizontal shelf has an aperture forreceiving the barrel of the hair dryer. When the user desires to storethe hair dryer temporarily while styling his or her hair, the usersimply inserts the hair dryer nozzle through the aperture in thehorizontal shelf until the handle of the hair dryer comes to rest on theshelf. In this position, the nozzle of the hair dryer is directed safelytoward the floor of the bathroom.

What is needed, however, is a hair dryer holder that is capable of beingused with bathroom vanities that do not have drawers or have drawerslocated in inconvenient locations. What is also needed is a hair dryerholder that does not have broad horizontal surfaces to collect water orother detritus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a hair dryer holder for supporting ahair dryer from the edge of the horizontal countertop or similar edge.According to a preferred embodiment the hair dryer holder comprises anozzle engaging frame that is composed of an upper nozzle engagingmember and a lower nozzle engaging member, each of which is formed fromsteel wire bent into a horizontal generally planar hollow geometricshape, such as a hollow square. The upper nozzle engaging member and thelower nozzle engaging member are held in a juxtaposed spaced-apartconfiguration by one or more vertical supports attached between theupper nozzle engaging member and the lower nozzle engaging member. Theassembly consisting of the upper and lower nozzle engaging members formsa nozzle engaging open frame that simulates a hollow tube sized toreceive the barrel portion of the hair dryer, but is of much lighter andsturdier construction than a continuous hollow tube.

The nozzle engaging frame is supported by a substantially L-shaped armmember attached at one end to the vertical support of the nozzleengaging frame. The opposite end of the L-shaped arm member is attachedto the upper clamp member of a spring clamp. The spring clamp, in turn,is clamped to the edge of a counter top or other edge to support thecomplete hair dryer holder assembly and hair dryer. According to oneembodiment, the upper nozzle engaging member includes an arcuatedepression in the upper surface which is adapted to receive the handleportion of the hair dryer so that the hair dryer “registers” in thenozzle engaging frame with a fixed rotational orientation. The L-shapedarm may be formed with an included angle less than 90° so that when thehair dryer is inserted into the nozzle engaging frame, the nozzle of thehair dryer is directed slightly toward the countertop, (i.e. away fromthe user).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention will be better understood from a reading of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing figures in which like references designate likeelements and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hair dryer holder incorporatingfeatures of the present invention

FIG. 2 is a side view of the hair dryer holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the hair dryer holder of FIG. 1supporting an illustrative hair dryer;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the hair dryer holder of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of the hair dryer holder of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The drawing figures are intended to illustrate the general manner ofconstruction and are not necessarily to scale. In the detaileddescription and in the drawing figures, specific illustrative examplesare shown and herein described in detail. It should be understood,however, that the drawing figures and detailed description are notintended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, butare merely illustrative and intended to teach one of ordinary skill howto make and/or use the invention claimed herein and for setting forththe best mode for carrying out the invention.

With reference to the figures and in particular FIGS. 1-3, a hair dryerholder 10 incorporating features of the present invention comprises anozzle engaging frame 12 which is composed of a lower nozzle engagingmember 14 and an upper nozzle engaging member 16. In the illustrativeembodiment, lower nozzle engaging member 14 comprises a length of steelwire approximately 6 mm in diameter that is formed (e.g. bent andbutt-welded) into a planar, hollow square frame. Upper nozzle engagingmember 16 similarly comprises a length of steel wire that is formed intoa hollow square frame. Upper nozzle engaging member 16 is also planar,with the exception that upper nozzle engaging member 16 includes adepression 18 formed in the upper surface of one edge, the function ofwhich will be explained more fully hereinafter. Accordingly, uppernozzle engaging member may be characterized as being “generally” planar.

Lower nozzle engaging member 14 and upper nozzle engaging member 16 areassembled together by means of a vertical support 20 which is attached(e.g. by welding) to lower nozzle engaging member 14 and upper nozzleengaging member 16 at approximately the center of their respective sides22 and 24 so that sides 22 and 24 are held in a parallel spaced-apartconfiguration. Depression 18 is formed to have the same depth “D” as thelength of vertical support 20 and is attached (e.g. by welding) at itsapex 38 to side 34 of lower nozzle engaging member 14 to create a rigidopen frame structure in which side 26 of lower nozzle engaging member 14is parallel to side 28 of upper nozzle engaging member 16; side 30 oflower nozzle engaging member 14 is parallel to side 32 of upper nozzleengaging member 16; and the horizontal portions of side 36 of uppernozzle engaging member 16 are parallel to side 34 of lower nozzleengaging member 14. This creates a “virtual tube” that is ideally suitedto receive the barrel portion of an electric hair dryer as shown in FIG.3, and because nozzle engaging frame is of open frame construction, itis less susceptible to collecting dust, dirt, and water than prior artapparatus employing flat panels, cylindrical tubes and other solidstructures. A finish plating such as chrome, zinc or other corrosionresistant, easy to clean finish may be applied to the surface of hairdryer holder 10 to create a more aesthetically pleasing product.

In the illustrative embodiment, nozzle engaging frame 12 is attached toa spring-clamp 40 by means of arm member 42 which supports nozzleengaging frame in a cantilevered fashion from clamp 40. Arm member 42 isattached at upper end 58 to vertical support 20 and at lower end 62 tothe upper clamp member 62 of clamp 40. Arm member 42 also formed from alength of wire which is formed into and L-shaped arm comprising a lowerarm member 44 and an upper arm member 46, which are disposed at an angle“A” less than 90°, preferably about 80°. The selection of an angle “A”of less than 90° accomplishes two different functions. First, becauseangle “A” is less than 90°, when hair dryer holder 10 is clamped to theedge of a counter top 48 as shown in FIG. 3 hair dryer 50 is tilteddownward and slightly toward countertop 48. Thus the stream of hot airfrom hair dryer 50 is directed safely away from the user standing infront of the counter. Second, because the center of gravity of hairdryer 50 is slightly toward the handle 52 side of the barrel 54 of hairdryer 50, the inclined upper surface 56 of nozzle engaging frame 12 willtend to cause hair dryer 50 to rotate downward until handle 52 registersin depression 18. This means that handle 52 will always be oriented inthe same direction for a simple “no-look” pickup by the userirrespective of how hair dryer 50 is dropped into nozzle engaging frame12.

Spring clamp 40 comprises upper clamp member 62 which comprises a bodyportion 64 and a jaw portion 66. Spring clamp 44 further comprises alower jaw member 68 also comprising a body portion 70 and a jaw portion72. Upper clamp member 62 is pivotably attached to lower jaw member 68by means of a pivot 74. A resilient member such as a torsional spring 76urges jaw portion 66 of upper clamp member 62 and jaw portion 72 oflower jaw member 68 together with sufficient force to support hair dryerholder 10 and hair dryer 50 when clamped to the edge of a typical vanitycountertop having a thickness of 0.5-4.0 cm such as countertop 48.

As noted hereinbefore, the elements of nozzle engaging frame 12 areformed of a wire material having a diameter “X” of approximately 6 mm.The depth “D” is preferably at least 10 mm up to approximately 100 mm toprovide the “virtual tube” to receive the barrel 54 of hair dryer 50.The radius “R” of depression 18 is preferably 10 mm to 20 mm and mostpreferably approximately 17 mm so as to accommodate a wide variety ofhair dryer handles. With additional reference to FIG. 5, the distance“S” between the sides of lower nozzle engaging member and/or uppernozzle engaging member (e.g. sides 28 and 32) is preferably from 55-95mm so as to accommodate a wide variety of hair dryer barrels and mostpreferably spaced apart by a distance of 70-82 mm. In order to ensurethat nozzle engaging frame 12 forms a “virtual tube” lower nozzleengaging member 14 and upper nozzle engaging member 16 should be formedto be identical in size when viewed from above so that the insidedistance “S” and/or the diagonal “C” are the same.

Although certain illustrative embodiments and methods have beendisclosed herein, it will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure tothose skilled in the art that variations and modifications of suchembodiments and methods may be made without departing from theinvention. For example, although nozzle engaging frame is formed fromvarious lengths of wire that are bent and welded into the hollow framestructure, other methods of manufacturing nozzle engaging frame,including injection molding or casting are within the scope of theinvention. Additionally, although lower nozzle engaging member and uppernozzle engaging member are formed as hollow squares, other hollowgeometric forms such as rectangles, hexagons, circles, are also withinthe scope of the invention. Finally, although the arm member is L-shapedextending vertically from the clamp, the arm member could be Z-shapedextending horizontally from the clamp. Accordingly, it is intended thatthe invention should be limited only to the extent required by theappended claims and the rules and principles of applicable law.Additionally, as used herein, references to direction such as “up” or“down” are intend to be exemplary and are not considered as limiting theinvention and, unless otherwise specifically defined, the terms“generally” “substantially” or “approximately” when used withmathematical concepts or measurements mean within ±10 degrees of angleor within 10 percent of the measurement, whichever is greater.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair dryer holder for supporting a hair dryerfrom the edge of a horizontal counter top, the hair dryer being of thetype having a barrel with an air intake end, an air discharge nozzle anda handle extending generally perpendicular to the barrel, the hair dryerholder comprising: a nozzle engaging frame, the nozzle engaging framecomprising an upper nozzle engaging member and a lower nozzle engagingmember, the upper nozzle engaging member comprising an elongate framemember formed into a hollow, horizontal, generally planar, closedgeometric shape, the lower nozzle engaging member also comprising anelongate frame member formed into a hollow generally planar, closedgeometric shape; a vertical support attached to the upper nozzleengaging member and the lower nozzle engaging member, the verticalsupport member maintaining the upper nozzle engaging member and thelower nozzle engaging member in a juxtaposed, substantially parallel,spaced-apart configuration; a clamp comprising an upper clamp member alower clamp member, the upper clamp member and the lower clamp eachcomprising a body portion and a jaw portion, the body portion of theupper clamp member being pivotably attached to the body portion of thelower clamp member, the clamp further comprising a resilient member forurging the jaw portions of the upper and lower clamp members together togrip the edge of a counter top; and an arm member comprising a first endattached a first attachment point to the upper clamp member and a secondedge attached at a second attachment point to the nozzle engaging frame,whereby the arm member supports the nozzle engaging frame in acantilevered manner relative to the clamp.
 2. The hair dryer holder ofclaim 1, wherein: the nozzle engaging frame extends in a first directionaway from the second attachment point and the clamp extends in asubstantially opposite direction away from the first attachment point.3. The hair dryer holder of claim 1, wherein the upper nozzle engagingmember and the lower nozzle engaging member are hollow closed geometricshapes having substantially equal diagonals.
 4. The hair dryer holder ofclaim 1, wherein the upper nozzle engaging member and the lower nozzleengaging members are each hollow rectangles.
 5. The hair dryer holder ofclaim 1, wherein: the upper nozzle engaging member and the lower nozzleengaging member are each hollow rectangles having two opposite sides theinside edges of which are spaced apart a distance of 55-95 millimeters.6. The hair dryer holder of claim 1, wherein: the upper nozzle engagingmember and the lower nozzle engaging member are each hollow rectangleshaving two opposite sides the inside edges of which are spaced apart adistance of 70-82 millimeters.
 7. The hair dryer holder of claim 1,wherein: the upper nozzle engaging member and the lower nozzle engagingmember are spaced apart by a distance of at least 10 mm
 8. The hairdryer holder of claim 1, wherein: the upper nozzle engaging member andthe lower nozzle engaging member are spaced apart by a distance ofbetween 10 mm to 100 mm
 9. The hair dryer holder of claim 1, wherein:the upper nozzle engaging member and the lower nozzle engaging memberare formed from steel wire having a diameter of approximately 6millimeters.
 10. The hair dryer holder of claim 1, wherein: the uppernozzle engaging member includes a depression in the upper surfacethereof, the depression being sized to cradle the handle of the hairdryer.
 11. The hair dryer holder of claim 11, wherein: the depressionhas an arcuate upper surface.
 12. The hair dryer holder of claim 1,wherein: the depression is located on the side of the upper nozzleengaging member opposite the second attachment point of the arm member.13. The hair dryer holder of claim 1, wherein: the arm member isattached to the vertical support.
 14. The hair dryer holder of claim 1,wherein: the arm member comprises an L-shaped member having an upper armmember and a lower arm member, the angle between the upper arm memberand the lower arm member being less than 90 degrees, whereby when theclamp is clamped to the counter top, the nozzle of the hair dryer ispointed slightly toward the counter top when placed in the nozzleengaging frame.
 15. The hair dryer holder of claim 14, wherein: theangle between the upper arm member and the lower arm member isapproximately 80 degrees.